Burning Moth

Chapter Five, Part Three - No Sudden Moves

Two days after Finn's big lesson, Chloe and I shared a jay on the hood of her car, which was parked in an alley downtown. For the past twenty minutes we'd been watching the entrance of the building across the street–a boutique, attached to a string of others like it, all connecting to form Harbor Village's priciest outlet chain.

For the past three hours, Chloe and I had trailed Lily Dixon and her fellow thieving friend up, and down the strip–twenty steps behind, yet really one giant step ahead. So far, I had come to two very important conclusions–all thanks to Chloe, and our super sleuthing skills.

One–Finn hadn't been lying when he called Lily a thief. The girl had a problem. Chloe and I had followed Lily and her frail, pouty double, from to store to store, and we knew good and well half the merchandise they walked away with were missing the tags.

For amateurs, they were decent.

And two–not only was Lily a lying, manipulative bitch who stole, she was a lying, manipulative bitch who cheated. I knew for a fact it was Lily I had seen the night of the gala, sneaking upstairs with another man–a man that most certainly hadn't been her husband, Graham. I couldn't recall much about Lily's secret lover, except a glimpse of red hair, and the flash of his white-teeth smile.

That image nixed most of my guilty feelings. Bad things happened to bad people every day, and it was about time Lily Dixon paid for something. Besides, I relished the chance at pulling a reverse Robin Hood.

"As much as I love getting my hands dirty for no reason," drawled Chloe, "it wouldn't hurt to know why."

"But it might." I batted my purple contacts at my friend, intent on concealing those truths for as long as possible. "You don't want an answer to your question. You're better off left in the dark, trust me--I'm doing you a favor."

Well, as much of a favor as not being a material witness to murder could be...

I didn't want Chloe any more involved with the Dixons than she already was. I had no idea what connection Finn really had to Lily, and so long as the game didn't change, I had no intention of asking. All I knew was that Finn had given me an assignment, and like always I would turn my homework in on time. If all went well, Finn would get his watch, Lily would never see my face, and more importantly, Nicholias would never, ever find out what I had done.

Just the thought of that scenario put a hole in my stomach–even bigger than the one that opened up each time I thought about Chloe getting caught and going down for my mess. The only reason she was here at all was because the stunt I was about to pull happened to be a two-man job, and a whimpering, goody two shoes like Aidan would never see it done.

"Whatever, bitch--keep your secrets." Chloe rolled her eyes, focusing on her manicure. "Just as long as they don't get me killed."

An innocent comment, but I puff-puff-puff-puffed before I passed it over.

By now, the moon was high and streets were empty. Little by little the shops had thinned, yet Thelma and Louise were still hitting the racks.

"Hey." I nodded towards the building, noticing movement. "Check it--those bitches are on the move."

I had interrupted Chloe, who was lying on her back, gazing at the stars from her own pink-colored contacts. She had been in the middle of talking nonsense, the weed telling her it was a good idea to quit the job, maybe go to college and move down to Aspen to snag a hot ski instructor. Now, she sat up, watching with me as I spied the other two girls exit the store, dipping around the corner, to the parking lot behind.

Chloe and I exchanged looks, already pulling out gloves. There were no teeth behind her smirk. "Ready, doll?" she said.

"Like I waited my whole life." I grinned and gave her dap. "Let's do this..."